Lifelong learning as a policy and theoretical perspective for adult education

Abstract

Lifelong learning has been placed at the heart of European policies and numerous international organizations. The EU has attributed to lifelong learning the role of an educational strategy to face the challenges related to competition but also to improve the cohesion of citizens and the quality of life. The theme is not free from ambiguity and reductive readings, which place it in an exclusively functionalist dimension. It becomes necessary to promote a humanistic vision, based on the critical exercise of thought, through the attribution of the intrinsic value to adult education and the recognition of skills, to understand and deal with changes in the course of life.